Tony Bennett’s son shared the final moments he spent with his late father.
“His last words to me (were), ‘Thank you,'” Danny Bennett told TODAY’s Hoda Kotb on August 3. “Can’t say it better than that.”
Danny Bennett and Tony Bennett’s wife, Susan Benedetto, sat for their first joint interview since the singer’s death.
Danny Bennett is the eldest son of Tony Bennett and his former wife Patricia Beech, who were married from 1950 until 1970. Their marriage produced sons Danny and Dae Bennett. In 1971, the singer married Sandra Grant, sharing daughters Joanna and Antonia Bennett. They divorced in 1984.
Tony Bennett and Benedetto wed in 2007.
The jazz icon who won 19 Grammy awards died on July 21, 2023 at age 96, his publicist Sylvia Weiner previously confirmed to TODAY.com. Bennett’s cause of death is unknown. In 2021, the musician’s family shared with AARP The Magazine that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia. According to Cleveland Clinic, the brain condition causes problems with memory and learning, and gets worse with time.
Danny Bennett told TODAY that his late dad was a “man of the people.”
“And so we experienced that as as kids” said Danny Bennett, adding that he and his family “never took that for granted … It was an amazing journey.”
Danny Bennett served as Tony Bennett’s manager, helping to expand his popularity to a younger audience, aka, the “MTV generation.”
One of Tony Bennett’s frequent collaborators was Lady Gaga. Together, the pair earned two Grammy awards — for the 2014 Grammy-winning album “Cheek to Cheek” and the 2021 album “Love For Sale.”
Danny Bennett told TODAY of his dad, “He came into my office one time. And he said, ‘I was watching MTV.’ He goes, ‘I think I can do that.’ And then walked out. And I was like, all right.”
“I put him on these shows that were, you know, 60,000 kids at RFK Stadium, between Nine Inch Nails and PJ Harvey,” he added. “And, you know, it was a little nerve-wracking.”
Danny Bennett shared how his dad was feeling at the time.
“He turned to me and he said, ‘Can I ask you a question?’ And he goes, ‘You think Frank (Sinatra) would do this?’ And I said No ….’
When Tony Bennett was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, said Benedetto, she and Danny Bennett assumed his career would slow down.
“But Tony’s like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. You know, I wanna keep singing.'”
Danny Bennett added, “We’d take him to the doctor and he’d go, ‘What am I– why am I here?’
“We would leave,” added Benedetto. “And Tony’s like, ‘Susan. I’m really okay. We don’t have to come back.'”
Tony Bennett sang until the end of his life, said Benedetto, adding that the last tune he belted out was “Because of You,” his very first hit.
“The music never left him,” said Benedetto, sharing his last words to his wife.
“That he loved me … he would wake up every day and still say that,” she said. “He woke up happy every day.”
